14 NEWS Best of the American columnists
THE WEEK2November 2019Digital choiceis the death ofcreativityCatherine RampellThe Washington PostTwo decadesago,theadvent oftheinternet“created aseismicshiftin artistic industries”,says
CatherineRampell,as piracy, file-sharingandother freely available contentdisruptedthe bigplayers
in music, filmandother creativetrades. We’renowexperiencinga“second digital disruption”,but
thisone–as ProfessorsKalRaustialaandChristopher Sprigmanargueinalaw journalarticle–
promises to“entrench the position oftoday’sbig corporateincumbents”. Today,largefirmswith
accesstovast troves ofdata oncustomerpreferencesare usingthat data tobecome ever betterat
givingpeopleexactly what theywant. Thepornindustry isat theforefrontof thistrend. Big
producershavedata-minedmillionsof views inorder togeneratecontenttailored exactlytopopular
tastes.Thedominant playersinthefashion,musicandperfume trades arealsoincreasingly using
artificialintelligenceto“optimise”theiroutput.Whilescaleandincumbencyhavealwaysconferred
acompetitiveadvantage, the abilityto analysevastquantitiesoffeedback hasmagnifiedthatedge.
It’s good forcustomersinsomeways,butthe dangeristhat“data-driven creativity”will“crowd
outthetraditionalkind –and makeit harderto findvoicesand visions wedon’talreadyknow”.Why universalhealthcare isreally abargainEric LevitzNew York magazineIfAmericascrappedtheentire Pentagonbudget,thatwouldfundaUSnationalhealthsystem
for fourmonths–sotweetedJoe Biden inaswipeagainst the “Medicare forAll”plansproposed
bysomeofhisrivalsforthe Democraticpresidentialnomination. Framedlikethat,state-funded
universalhealthcaredoes seem“prohibitively expensive”, says EricLevitz.Yet Americansalready
paysky-hightaxes forhealthcare–wejustpaythemtoprivateinsurancecompanies insteadofthe
government. Ifyouadd insurancepremiumsto payroll taxes,theaverageUS workerwithtwo
children effectively paida43.2% tax rate in 2017. And forthis, we receive prettymediocre care.
Last year,Cana da spent roughly 11.3%of its GDPonhealthcare,which pr ovided allof itscitizens
with freeaccess to the world’s 14th-highest-performinghealthcare system.The U S, by contrast,spent
17.8% ofitsGDP on healthcare,whic hleftsome 30 m illionAmericans uninsured andmany others
wary, for cost reasons,of accessingthe world’s 29th-ranked healthcaresystem. You canobje ct to
the MedicareforAll plans on thebasis that they’renot “l egislativ elyviabl e”,but B iden ofallpeople
shouldknow better than t odemonise theveryconcept of tax-financedsocial prog rammes.Why dorura lAmericans persistin votin gagainst their bestinterests?“Social-justiceleftis ts” have
beenasking thisquestion for years,says Cris pin Sartwell, finding itunfathomablethat struggling
citizens in redstates support Republicanslike PresidentTrump rather than rallying to Democrats,
who wouldspend more money on food stamps, public housing andother government assistance.
Liberals put this puzzlingphenomenon down to ei ther “sheer genetic redneckboneheadedness”,
or manipulation by“malevolent forces”suchasFox News. The fundamental flaw in thisanaly sis is
the assumptionthat ruralvoters are drivenonly by money. Progres sive sfind nothi ng illogical about
the idea ofawealthy person favouringhigh taxesorother policies thatgo against theirfinancial
interests. But theidea, conversely,of apoorpersonforfeiting handoutsisj ustweird. It doesn’t
occur to the Leftthat rural peoplemight genuinelyvalue self-reliance and self-respect, anddistrust
gove rnment programmes thatbreed dependency andput th edecisionsabou ttheir lives in thehands
of distantbureaucrats.“Even if somerural Americanscan’tprovide forthem selves now, they aspire
to. There’s nothing irrational about that. It’sabasic –the mostbasic–Americanvalue.”People vote foraspirations,not handoutsCrispin SartwellThe Wall Street Journal“HillaryClintonhasgonefull
cuckoo,”saidtheNewYorkPost.Not
contentwithblamingVladimirPutin
forherdefeatinthe2 016 presidential
election,she’snowpeddlingconspiracy
theoriesabouthisnefariousplansfor
the 2020 race.“I’mnotmakingany
predictions,”theformersecretaryof
statedeclaredinarecentpodcast,
beforegoingontosaythatunnamed
forcesweregroomingonecontender
intheDemocraticprimary“tobethe
third-partycandidate”.Itwasclear
fromthecontextthatClintonwas
referringtothe 38 -year-oldHawaiian
congresswomanTulsiGabbard,who
shereferredtoasa“Russianasset”,anda“favouriteofthe
Russians”.Nevermindthat GabbardisanIraqcombatveteran
whoriskedherlifeforhercountryandrecentlyruledout
makingathird-partybid.Inresponse,anirateGabbardcalled
Clintonthe“queenofwarmongers”andthe“personificationof
therotthathassickenedtheDemocraticParty”.Alas,Clinton’sparanoiaaboutRussianinfiltrationiswidely
shared,saidMattTaibbiin RollingStone.Itseems everyone
outsidethe liberalestablishmentison“TeamPutin”these days.
Trumpisapawn oftheKremlin;theRepublicanSenatemajorityleaderMitchMcConnellis
“MoscowMitch”;thesocialistBernie
Sandersisthebeneficiaryofadevious
Russianplottostokedivisionswithin
theDemocrats.Thereareshadesof
“McCarthyism”here,agreedTimWu
inTheNewYorkTimes.Gabbard
doesn’tdeservetobelabelleda
“Russianasset”justbecausesheopp-
oseswhatshecalls“regime-change
wars”andisreluctanttocriticise
PutinandSyria’sBasharal-Assad.Clinton’steamhassinceclarifiedthat
shedoesn’tseeGabbardasaRussian
plant,saidPhilipRotneron
TheBulwark.com–merelyastheKremlin’spreferredcandidate.
Andit’strue,RussianTVandnewsagencieshavebeencovering
hercampaignheavilyandpositively.Shehasalsoadoptedsome
“distinctlyTrumpianpostures”,championinganisolationist
foreignpolicyandvilifyingthepress.Herrosterofavowedfans
includesformerTrumpstrategistSteveBannonandright-wing
provocateurAnnCoulter.Gabbardhasnochanceofwinning
theDemocraticnomination,but she couldlaunchathird-party
bidifshefeels spurned byherpartyandsiphonoffacritical
numberof votes.Nobody shouldquestionherpatriotism,
“butat thesametime,let’skeepaneyeonTulsiGabbard”.Tulsi Gabbard: worth keeping an eye on?Thehunt for “Russian assets” in the Democratic Party